Hello! I have been lurking here a while, but thought my trip report would be of some use to people planning their own trip.
General details:
We were in town 3/4-3/7, taking advantage of the $27 rooms at the Excalibur. Unlike the Riviera, this is a budget hotel that is actually decent. The room we had was pleasant, no weird smells, no mold in the bathroom, and the place was very clean and presentable. A pleasant surprise.
Shows:
We saw Le Reve at the Wynn the first night, and was very impressed by the acrobatics, music, and overall presentation of the show. It is another abstract CdS-type show where story is not nearly as important as the theme. There is not a bad seat in the house, so if you are booking this show just get whatever is cheapest.
Second night we saw Carrot Top at the Luxor followed by Fantasy. Both shows are in the same theater and play back to back. Carrot Top had everyone in the audience rolling, and was very funny. When I tell my friends and family just how good and funny this man is, they all respond with quizzical looks. The fact is that this was a great show that put my wife and I in an energetic mood. Fantasy is a topless show that was good, but not incredible. The wife and I both enjoyed it, and it was worth the money.
The last night we saw Criss Angel. This show was sort of like nails on a chalkboard. This show had literally no redeeming qualities other than my wife and I getting to laugh about how bad it was after the show. This is a great show for people who would be entertained by hearing someone talk about how cool they are for 75% of the show. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Clubs:
Both my wife and I popped our Clubbing cherry on Tuesday night at Pure. We bought front of the line passes on vegas.com for approximately $120 total (including tax, fees, etc.). This turned out to be a really really good idea. I was nervous when we first approached the club with our printouts from the website. It just feels low-rent to be carrying these around when there are so many people trying to grease their way in, or are showing up and getting in with merely telling the doormen their names. I was even more nervous when we showed the doorman the printouts, and he did not say a word to us. He just pointed to a place where he wanted us to stand. The anticipation was killing me, and I became worried that we would be waiting a very long time, regardless of paying the cash for the passes. I was well aware that buying these doesn't make us "true VIPs" or anything. I was pleasantly surprised when we were let in after about 10 minutes. The hundreds of people outside must have been waiting a long time to get in. I am forever grateful that I didn't have to wait with them.
We quickly learned that there is literally no place to sit in the entire place unless you get a table, and my wife's feet were hurting from her shoes, so the night started off slow for us when we got inside. We both loved the decor and the professionalism of the staff inside. The bartenders were very fast and made us great drinks. I tipped the bartender a twenty to start off, and used the same bartender for the night (as per the advice I had gotten here). This turned out well for us, as well as him. Once we had a few drinks in our system, I was tipping like 6 bucks per drink, and I have never gotten drinks faster. We were drinking red bull/vodka's for $14 a piece and were just leaving twenties out for each one.
Estelle played a short, but good, set of about 3-4 songs that had the dance floor moving. The DJ's were amazing, especially considering we had never been to a really nice club before. My wife and I both navigated the dance floor, looking for other attractive, fun people to dance with. There were plenty of hot women there that were fun to dance with, and my wife danced with her fair share of guys as well. We had such a good time that we are planning two further trips this spring/summer to see UFC shows and get bottle service at some different clubs. I had no idea that clubbing in Vegas was this addicting!
Food:
We mostly ate at regular restaurants that were inexpensive and quick. We did splurge two nights on dinner, eating at Rice and Company at the Luxor on Monday night. With a couple of drinks each, and various sushi + miso soups, we hit $250 easy. The food was delicious, and is recommended. The sushi was outstanding! On Tuesday night, we ate at Tender Steak and Seafood, also at the Luxor. We both threw down on some kobe beef fillets, and a cheese platter as an appetizer. We ordered some veggies and a baked potato as sides to go with our fillets. The food was amazing. Absolutely incredible. After the food and wine, we were so sleepy that we didn't want to get out of the booth! We didn't know how we were going to make it to Pure and have the energy to dance (we did).
Other:
-Make sure you bring plenty cash with you beforehand. I have a crappy bank that puts limits on the amount you can withdraw per day. It was a huge hassle to call the bank when we had an itinerary to follow and places to be.
-Monday morning we spent at the spa at the Excalibur. We both got a 50-minute Swedish massage, 25-min facial, and 25-min body wrap. This all came out to be like $480ish. Well worth it. The staff is helpful, professional, and the services were relaxing. The spa area is so immaculate and peaceful, that it didn't even feel like we were in Las Vegas anymore.
-Planning many things to do well in advance was the key to this whole trip.
-There is no way I will ever NOT get bottle service when going to these clubs. Although we were tipping big at the bar, we spent close to the same price as a full bottle, and we were stuck standing the entire time. We don't regret what we did, but we know more now about how things work.
Sorry for making this so long! I hope that at least one person will find this at least semi-interesting. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Also, I will be in Vegas over both MDW and July 5-8. Getting BS for May 26th at Tryst with Skrillex playing. I haven't decided what club(s) we will hit in July.
Thanks for reading!
General details:
We were in town 3/4-3/7, taking advantage of the $27 rooms at the Excalibur. Unlike the Riviera, this is a budget hotel that is actually decent. The room we had was pleasant, no weird smells, no mold in the bathroom, and the place was very clean and presentable. A pleasant surprise.
Shows:
We saw Le Reve at the Wynn the first night, and was very impressed by the acrobatics, music, and overall presentation of the show. It is another abstract CdS-type show where story is not nearly as important as the theme. There is not a bad seat in the house, so if you are booking this show just get whatever is cheapest.
Second night we saw Carrot Top at the Luxor followed by Fantasy. Both shows are in the same theater and play back to back. Carrot Top had everyone in the audience rolling, and was very funny. When I tell my friends and family just how good and funny this man is, they all respond with quizzical looks. The fact is that this was a great show that put my wife and I in an energetic mood. Fantasy is a topless show that was good, but not incredible. The wife and I both enjoyed it, and it was worth the money.
The last night we saw Criss Angel. This show was sort of like nails on a chalkboard. This show had literally no redeeming qualities other than my wife and I getting to laugh about how bad it was after the show. This is a great show for people who would be entertained by hearing someone talk about how cool they are for 75% of the show. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Clubs:
Both my wife and I popped our Clubbing cherry on Tuesday night at Pure. We bought front of the line passes on vegas.com for approximately $120 total (including tax, fees, etc.). This turned out to be a really really good idea. I was nervous when we first approached the club with our printouts from the website. It just feels low-rent to be carrying these around when there are so many people trying to grease their way in, or are showing up and getting in with merely telling the doormen their names. I was even more nervous when we showed the doorman the printouts, and he did not say a word to us. He just pointed to a place where he wanted us to stand. The anticipation was killing me, and I became worried that we would be waiting a very long time, regardless of paying the cash for the passes. I was well aware that buying these doesn't make us "true VIPs" or anything. I was pleasantly surprised when we were let in after about 10 minutes. The hundreds of people outside must have been waiting a long time to get in. I am forever grateful that I didn't have to wait with them.
We quickly learned that there is literally no place to sit in the entire place unless you get a table, and my wife's feet were hurting from her shoes, so the night started off slow for us when we got inside. We both loved the decor and the professionalism of the staff inside. The bartenders were very fast and made us great drinks. I tipped the bartender a twenty to start off, and used the same bartender for the night (as per the advice I had gotten here). This turned out well for us, as well as him. Once we had a few drinks in our system, I was tipping like 6 bucks per drink, and I have never gotten drinks faster. We were drinking red bull/vodka's for $14 a piece and were just leaving twenties out for each one.
Estelle played a short, but good, set of about 3-4 songs that had the dance floor moving. The DJ's were amazing, especially considering we had never been to a really nice club before. My wife and I both navigated the dance floor, looking for other attractive, fun people to dance with. There were plenty of hot women there that were fun to dance with, and my wife danced with her fair share of guys as well. We had such a good time that we are planning two further trips this spring/summer to see UFC shows and get bottle service at some different clubs. I had no idea that clubbing in Vegas was this addicting!
Food:
We mostly ate at regular restaurants that were inexpensive and quick. We did splurge two nights on dinner, eating at Rice and Company at the Luxor on Monday night. With a couple of drinks each, and various sushi + miso soups, we hit $250 easy. The food was delicious, and is recommended. The sushi was outstanding! On Tuesday night, we ate at Tender Steak and Seafood, also at the Luxor. We both threw down on some kobe beef fillets, and a cheese platter as an appetizer. We ordered some veggies and a baked potato as sides to go with our fillets. The food was amazing. Absolutely incredible. After the food and wine, we were so sleepy that we didn't want to get out of the booth! We didn't know how we were going to make it to Pure and have the energy to dance (we did).
Other:
-Make sure you bring plenty cash with you beforehand. I have a crappy bank that puts limits on the amount you can withdraw per day. It was a huge hassle to call the bank when we had an itinerary to follow and places to be.
-Monday morning we spent at the spa at the Excalibur. We both got a 50-minute Swedish massage, 25-min facial, and 25-min body wrap. This all came out to be like $480ish. Well worth it. The staff is helpful, professional, and the services were relaxing. The spa area is so immaculate and peaceful, that it didn't even feel like we were in Las Vegas anymore.
-Planning many things to do well in advance was the key to this whole trip.
-There is no way I will ever NOT get bottle service when going to these clubs. Although we were tipping big at the bar, we spent close to the same price as a full bottle, and we were stuck standing the entire time. We don't regret what we did, but we know more now about how things work.
Sorry for making this so long! I hope that at least one person will find this at least semi-interesting. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Also, I will be in Vegas over both MDW and July 5-8. Getting BS for May 26th at Tryst with Skrillex playing. I haven't decided what club(s) we will hit in July.
Thanks for reading!
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